Joseph Wagner is a very successful and thrifty agriculturist, residing on section 35, in Ridott Township, where he owns 195 acres of land in a good state of improvement. He came to the county, locating first in Lancaster Township, where he lived for two years. After coming to Ridott Township he purchased 110 acres, to which he has since made additions. He was born in Centre County, Pa., May 4, 1831. His father, William, was a small farmer, and was born in York County, Pa., of German parentage. The ancestors emigrated to this country prior to the Revolutionary War, and Joseph's grandfather, John Wagner, was a participant in that struggle for American freedom. He lived and died in Centre County, Pa., where he was a farmer in a small way. He was a defender in the War of 1812, the fight to resist British encroachments, and married a Pennsylvania lady of German descent, who died in Centre County, Pa.

The father of our subject, William Wagner, was born and reared in York County, and when a youth went to Centre County. He married Julia A. Rider, who was also born in York County, but was reared in Centre County. She became the mother of eleven children, six sons and five daughters of whom our subject was the first son and fifth child. All the sons and three of the daughters are now living, and all are married and have families. Our subject, however, is the only child living in Illinois.

The early life of Mr. Wagner was spent at home in the county of his nativity. When twenty years old he set out to learn the carpenter's trade under Eli Bitner, of Clinton County, Pa. He was in Mr. Bitner's employ for two years, and afterward worked on his own account, having come to Illinois as soon as he completed his trade, which he followed in Illinois for about eight years. He was married in 1855, in Fayette County, Iowa, to Miss Mary Hershey, who was born in Canada, near Buffalo, N. Y., June 6, 1837, and came to the United States and settled in Lancaster Township, this county, with her parents in 1841. Her parents afterward went with their family to Iowa, and lived there for some time, but finally came to this township, and died at the home of their daughter. Mrs. Wagner lived with her father until about one year after her marriage. She is the mother of three children: Abraham A. married Jennie Halstead, and is a farmer living in Ridott Township; Nancy A. is the wife of James Morris, who also lives in Ridott Township; William, the remaining child, lives with his father, and married Elizabeth Cronemiller.

Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Wagner are members of the United Brethren Church, of which he is a Trustee. Mr. Wagner is an upright, respected citizen, and is a solid Republican. A handsome lithographic view of Mr. Wagner's residence is shown on another page of this work.

Contributed by Carol Parrish from Portrait and Biographical Album of Stephenson County, Ill. (1888), p. 672